Chapter 314 – Three Years in Langya (Fourteen)
Wei Ci glanced at Lü Zheng’s appearance and chuckled, “You can hug a charcoal basin to sleep, and you’re still cold?”
Lü Zheng, a hunter’s son who grew up roaming the mountains, how was it that he was so sensitive to the cold?
“Of course, I’m cold… I was terrified of the cold when I was a child…” Lü Zheng mumbled, wishing he could dive inside the charcoal basin.
If he hadn’t experienced the fear of having his hands and feet freeze, he wouldn’t be this sensitive!
Wei Ci paused for a moment, his expression turning slightly nostalgic.
Others knew he was the legitimate son of the Wei family, but they didn’t realize he had once gone through a dark period where everyone was indifferent to him. Once the weather turned cold, his room felt like an ice cellar, and he spent the whole winter not knowing where the charcoal had gone, shrinking fearfully in his blankets.
Even as he grew up, his sensitivity to the cold ran deep within him, and whenever the weather turned chilly, his hands and feet felt icy.
But how did things improve later?
“Zixiao, why are your hands and feet so cold?”
“Come on, I’ll begrudgingly give you a hug.”
Compared to his icy demeanor, one person was like a portable furnace, warm all year round.
With this thought, Wei Ci’s cheeks suddenly flushed a little, but the warmth in the carriage made it less noticeable.
“Why not wear an extra layer? Aren’t you afraid of getting cold…?” Wei Ci mumbled, his mood for reading entirely gone, and he wasn’t sure who he was talking to.
Lü Zheng looked up in confusion, suddenly brightening, “Zixiao is the best; he knows how to take care of his buddies!”
Saying that, he opened Wei Ci’s trunk, and on top was a thick white fur cloak, pressed under a scroll.
Wei Ci: “…”
Lü Zheng: “I see this rabbit fur cloak looks quite warm, let me wear it for a bit. This painting—hey, Zixiao, your talent in painting is truly remarkable.”
“Lü Shaoyin, get off the carriage!”
Lü Zheng was momentarily bewildered. Knowing that he had accidentally touched something he shouldn’t have, he hurriedly grabbed the carriage door.
“No way, no way! Wei Zixiao, you heartless man! If you don’t take me in, I’ll freeze to death! If I freeze to death, I’ll invade your dreams at midnight and talk with you all night…” Lü Zheng yelled, sounding like a slaughtered pig.
He was in full “if you throw me out, I’ll fight you” mode, and Wei Ci nearly toppled over in frustration.
Once swearing to share life and death with his former lord, even when surrounded by a city, the grains running out, Lü Shaoyin still refused to bow down—was this the same guy?
Wei Ci deeply suspected that the Lü Shaoyin who submitted ten written complaints, angrily cursing the emperor, and ultimately jumped to his death for his lord was not the same as the current Lü Zheng!
The soundproofing of the carriage wasn’t great, and Lü Zheng was loud enough that students in several carriages ahead and behind heard the commotion.
Han Yu, upon hearing the noise, laughed, “Zixiao, what exactly did you do to deserve such a scolding for being a heartless man?”
Wei Ci’s face turned red with anger, but he still had his principles and didn’t explain. But Lü Zheng, being shameless, stuck his head out the window, “Zixiao is of marriageable age now! He must have accidentally seen something he shouldn’t have, and now he’s going to kill someone to shut them up. Can Wenbin take in Zheng for a few days?”
Han Yu chuckled, “No can do. If Zixiao is coming to silence you, I can’t protect you.”
Jiang Pengji returned from her run and furrowed her brows upon hearing their teasing.
“It’s just one or two fire prevention maps. Why fuss and be shy about it?”
Upon hearing this, Lü Zheng suddenly burst out laughing, while Wei Ci’s face turned a dark shade of green.
He never expected Lü Zheng, who had little interaction with him before, to be such a troublemaker!
Lü Zheng, adept at reading the room, noticed Wei Ci was truly angry and quickly raised a fist to cough lightly.
“Zixiao, forgive me; I was indeed careless and overstepped with my joke. Please, have a generous heart and forgive me just this once.”
Wei Ci stiffly replied, “Don’t do it again.”
Lü Zheng heard this, sprung back to life, and eagerly stared at the scroll.
Before paper existed, scholars usually painted on high-quality fabric.
Now, with improved bamboo paper, they gradually began using that instead for their scrolls.
Lü Zheng had heard from early on that Wei Ci excelled in many areas, and it was rumored in Langya that he was a reincarnation of a brilliant talent from the previous dynasty—Huangfu from Langya, whose talent rivaled that of Mr. Yuanjing. In a few years, he might even surpass him. But rumors were just rumors.
To Lü Zheng, Mr. Yuanjing was like an unattainable mountain; how could Wei Ci possess such a reputation?
Now seeing the content of the painting he created, he couldn’t help but feel a bit impressed.
The woman depicted in the scroll seemed so lifelike, as if she could open her hazy eyes at any moment. If Wei Ci’s expression wasn’t so unpleasant, Lü Zheng might have even been tempted to reach out and check if the person in the painting was alive.
The woman was dressed rather daringly, with narrow sleeves and half arms, exposing her snow-white wrists. Her skirt barely covered her calves, with two silver rings hanging around her ankles, her feet resting on a pile of petals, making the reds redder and whites whiter—striking and tantalizing.
“This person looks somewhat familiar?”
Lü Zheng murmured, staring at the person’s face as Wei Ci swiftly snatched the scroll from his hands and rolled it up tightly.
“You’re seeing things.”
Wei Ci pulled the trunk closer, stuffing the cloak from the upper layer into the lower tier, securely hiding the scroll.
Lü Zheng: “…”
It just felt like this Wei Ci was vastly different from the dignified Wei Langjun in the rumors.
Yet, with such exceptional painting skills, if he were to draw fire prevention maps, wouldn’t that scene be overwhelmingly hard to endure?
Even if it wasn’t a fire prevention map, painting such daring content… Tsk, tsk, Wei Ci wasn’t as proper as he seemed.
Ironically, Wei Ci also thought Lü Zheng was nothing like the Lü Shaoyin he remembered!
Their thoughts were perfectly in sync.
“I” probably encountered a fake Lü Shaoyin (Wei Zixiao).
After traveling for a while longer, the servants began to make a fire for cooking, and the carriages formed a ring to block the wind around them.
Jiang Pengji silently asked the System, “Where’s Meng Heng? If you don’t tell me where he is, how can I rescue him?”
The System replied, “No rush, he’ll be here soon.”
Before long, just as three bonfires were lit, several figures stumbling against the wind and snow could be seen approaching in the distance.
Jiang Pengji was still on horseback. She said, “I’ll go take a look first; I don’t know if they’re friend or foe.”
They had already left the capital’s range, and it wasn’t peaceful outside; it was easy to run into bandits or people who had been robbed by them.
Out of caution, Jiang Pengji took the lead to investigate.
“Who goes there?” Jiang Pengji reined in her horse to intercept.
There were only three people ahead; from their clothing, it seemed like one was a young servant and the other two were guards.
The young servant bowed to Jiang Pengji, saying, “I am a book boy by the side of Lord Meng Heng, the county governor. The road is bumpy, and the wheels of the carriage accidentally broke in the snowy ground. Not knowing if it’s good or bad, I saw this bonfire and audaciously came to seek help.”
Jiang Pengji frowned, countering, “Lord of Meng County? Is it Lord Meng Heng?”
The young servant replied, “Indeed, that is my lord.”
Jiang Pengji’s cold expression warmed slightly, “What a coincidence! My father is Liu Zhi of Hejian. In terms of familial relations, Meng Heng is my older cousin. Where is he now? I’ll go check on him.”
Upon hearing Liu Zhi’s name, the young servant’s heart sank; he hadn’t expected Jiang Pengji to recognize her relative and sighed in relief.
Even though the Hejian Liu Clan and the Cangzhou Meng Clan had a poor relationship, in terms of blood ties, Meng Heng was indeed Liu Xi’s older cousin—no problem there.
